Library Weblog & News

Friends of the Library 2011-2012 Book Discussions

2011-08-09 16:15:12

Friends of the Library 2011-2012 Book DiscussionsAll book discussions begin at 3:00 p.m. and will be led by CPL's Richard FoxRhodes Tower, Room 503Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State UniversityFree and open to the public

Let the Great World Spinby Colum McCannWednesday, September 14, 2011In the dawning light of a late-summer morning, the people of lower Manhattan stand hushed, looking up in disbelief at the Twin Towers. It is August 1974, and a mysterious tightrope walker is running, dancing, leaping between the towers, suspended a quarter mile above the ground. In the streets below, a slew of ordinary lives become extraordinary in bestselling novelist Colum McCann's stunningly intricate portrait of a city and its people. Let the Great World Spin is the critically acclaimed author's most ambitious novel yet: a dazzlingly rich vision of the pain, loveliness, mystery, and promise of New York City in the 1970s.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacksby Rebecca SklootWednesday, November 2, 2011Henrietta Lacks, a poor southern tobacco farmer, was buried in an unmarked grave sixty years ago. Yet her cells -- taken without her knowledge -- became one of the most important tools in medical research. Known to science as HeLA, the first "immortal" Human cells grown in culture are still alive today, and have been bought and sold by the millions. Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey from the "colored" ward of John Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to East Baltimore today, where Henrietta's family struggles with her legacy. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is also Cleveland State University's Common Reading book choice for 2011/2012.

Spring book discussions include: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson: February 15, 2012: World and Town by Gish Jen: March 14,2012; The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and suggested reading accompaniment: A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway: April 4, 2012

(Note: The Annual Local Author program will feature Paula McLain, who will visit the Library in mid-April).